Chapter 5
Chapter 4 APPLICATION TO THE EIXAMPLE DISTRICT OF BARCELONA, SPAIN INTRODUCTION Barcelona is a densely populated city and the most of the city’s building stock was built without using seismic design criteria. The combination of old buildings constructed without seismic criteria and a highly populated and active city can be extremely risky under the effects of even a moderate earthquake. Recently, these facts have awakened the need for a seismic risk assessment for the city. The focus of the present study is the evaluation of the seismic risk of a neighborhood of the Eixample district of Barcelona. For this aim, it is necessary to know the urban area from a global point of view which is. In the following paragraphs information about geotechnical characteristics, historic evolution of the city, territorial organization, typology building construction and population distribution is presented. Recent studies of the seismic damage to unreinforced masonry buildings of Barcelona have confirmed their vulnerability and highlighted the need for assessment of each building’s seismic demand and response (Lantada et al. 2009; Barbat et al. 2006; Pujades et al. 2012). By completing this assessment, damage scenarios and plans can be developed to reduce the risk.
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